The field of this invention is platform structures and methods of assembling such structures.
Platform structures have a variety of uses, one of which is providing a structure for gaining access to railroad cars to inspect, load, unload, or perform other operations involving the railroad cars. Many times it is necessary to gain access to the top of the railroad car. Accordingly, it is often desirable to have elevated platforms at loading and inspection stations in rail yards so that personnel have a structure permitting easy and safe access to appropriate parts of the cars. It is also desirable, of course, that the platform can be constructed with a minimum expenditure of time and labor. Further, the desired locations of loading and inspection stations in rail yards sometimes change, thus making it further desirable that the platform can be disassembled and subsequently reassembled at a different location with minimum expenditures of time, labor, and new material costs.
Platforms were available in the past, but often they did not possess the desirable features discussed above. Typically, the components of the platforms were welded or otherwise permanently affixed to each other. This characteristic of the platforms resulted in high assembly costs because of the extensive requirement of skilled workers, such as welders. Further, once erected, these platforms could not be easily and cheaply disassembled and reassembled at different locations. During disassembly, there were again extensive requirements for costly skilled labor, and these labor costs sometimes made it economically impractical to disassemble and subsequently reassemble a platform at a different location. As a result, known platforms were often left standing or simply demolished at the first location, and entirely new platforms were erected at a new location.